


Magnus Alone

by horrible_memes



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 15:18:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14404875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horrible_memes/pseuds/horrible_memes
Summary: After an attack on the Starblaster by a group of monsters, Magnus is the only surviving crewmember on this plane. A farmer gives Magnus food and supplies in exchange for work.





	Magnus Alone

**Author's Note:**

> I have spent three goddamn months being stuck on this fic. I am so happy to finally have it done. Fuck.

   Magnus woke up to the gentle nudge of the sunlight leaking through the windows. He slowly got out of bed, draped his IPRE jacket over himself, and dragged himself to the Starblaster's kitchen. He made himself breakfast (it was a large bowl of fantasy cereal) and headed out towards the surface of the current plane. He clambered down the ship's ladder and hopped onto the firm ground.

   It was day 10 on this cycle. It had been eight days since Magnus survived a brutal attack on the Starblaster by a large group of wild animals

   It had been eight days since the rest of the crew had died.

   "Hey, Magnus!" A nearby farmer called from her field. She had dark skin and was in her late twenties, from what Magnus could tell. Her long black hair was tied up into a bun, and her tank top showed off her impressively muscular frame for a farmer. The farm she was working on consisted mostly of a strange alien vegetable Magnus only recently learned was called "lettuce" but also had some vegetables Magnus was more familiar with. There were also a few cows and sheep munching away at some grass near a large red barn. Apart from the strange flora, the plane seemed to mirror that of Magnus’ home. The Starblaster touched down in a small farming town that Magnus discovered was called Redwater. The people here seemed friendly, giving Magnus food and supplies in return for work, and Magnus was more than happy to do so.

   “Hey, Leah!” Magnus yelled, putting on his best smile and eagerly waving at her. He started to jog towards the farmer. “How are you doing?”

   Leah sighed. “Ah, same old same old. Ready to get to work?” She asked, handing Magnus a spare farming hoe from the cart next to her. Magnus smiled and grabbed the hoe before helping Leah tend to the field, each taking one half.

   After a few hours, Leah stood up tall, having just finished re-tilling her half of the field, and wiped the sweat from her brow. She looked over at Magnus, who had barely made a dent in his half. She chuckled and jogged over to him.

   “You need some help, bud?” Leah laughed.

   Magnus looked up at Leah, breathing heavily with beads of sweat falling off his face. “Oh, uh… No, I got it… Don’t have that much longer to go.”

   “There’s, like, a good half mile left. You sure about that?”

   “Alright, alright, if you insist.”

   Leah chuckled and started tilling the field along with Magnus. After a few minutes of silence, Leah spoke up. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why do you live in that space-boat of yours all by your lonesome? I’m sure I could talk Joseph into lending you a room over at The Amnesty Inn. Trade him some veggies or something for it.”

   Magnus stopped and stood up tall, staring at the Starblaster. He stayed quiet for a moment before shaking his head. “Oh, uh… I’m alright. Thanks, though.” He blurted out.

   Leah tilted her head. “...You good Magnus?  Seems like something’s bugging you.”

   Magnus turned towards her and forced a smile. “Yep. Fine! Nothing’s up!”

   “...You are a terrible liar, my friend.” Leah said. “C’mon. What’s on your mind?”

   “Nothing! I’m totally fine!”

   “Listen, I just want to help you.”

   “Help me with what?”

   “Something’s obviously bothering you-”

   “I’m perfectly fine, okay? So just drop the subject!” Magnus yelled, throwing the hoe in his hand to the ground. “Why can’t you just leave me the hell alone for two fucking seconds?” The two stood in silence for what felt like hours.

   Eventually, Leah broke the silence. “Alright, fine. You want to be left alone? Fine. Have fun tilling the field.” Leah turned on her heel and headed towards her cart, gripping tightly onto her hoe.

   “Wait, Leah, I-I didn’t mean…” Magnus called out to Leah, who didn’t respond. Magnus sighed, picked up the farming hoe, and continued his work on the field.

   The sun had just set over the horizon. Magnus silently walked up to the barnhouse, farming hoe in hand, and knocked on the door.

   “Who’s there?” Leah called out from inside.

   “It’s, uh, it’s me, Magnus.” Magnus responded.

   Leah waited for a moment, thinking to herself, before responding. “...One sec.”  A few moments later, the door swung open.

   “Listen, I, uh…” Magnus stuttered. “I… realized I forgot to give you back your hoe.” Magnus said, handing the tool over to Leah.

   Leah looked down at the tool, then back up to Magnus and sighed. “Listen, Magnus… I, uh, wanted to apologize for earlier, out on the field.” Leah said, rubbing her temples. “Like, clearly something really bad happened on that ship of yours, but if you don’t feel comfortable talking about it, it’s not my job to force it out of you. I think I… I was acting like a brat and I’m sorry.”

   Magnus sighed. “It’s… it’s fine. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you for wanting to help me. That wasn’t okay.”

   Leah chuckled. “Guess we both kind of botched that whole encounter up, didn’t we?” Magnus chuckled. “I was actually about to whip up dinner. You wanna come in and eat with me?”

   Magnus smiled and walked in through the door. Leah led him towards the kitchen and offered him a seat and a bottle of beer before returning to the kitchen and preparing for dinner. “How do you like your eggs, Magnus?” she asked.

   “Overeasy, with some toast.” Magnus responded. “Also, this is really good beer. Where’d you get it?”

   “Oh, Dora runs a brewery on the other side of town. Best beer in the whole country, I feel.”

   “You have experience, then?”

   “I mean a little. Certainly wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I’ve tried a good number.”

   The two spent the next hour chatting about various topics, laughing and having a good time. After dinner was finished and the night was winding down, Magnus stayed and helped clean the dishes.

   “You’re a really good chef, Leah.” Magnus commented.

   “Oh, I’m okay. You should try Eric’s food. Man makes a mean fried chicken.” Leah laughed.

   “I mean, this was really good. You might have even given Taako a run for his money.” Magnus said.

   Leah tilted her head. “Taako? Who’s that?”

   Magnus paused. “He’s… he was…” He sighed and slumped over the sink. “...Did I ever tell you why I’m here?”

   “You said that you were looking for something. A light or something like that.” Leah answered.

   “There’s more to it than that.” Magnus said. He grabbed a fresh beer from the icebox and traipsed over to a chair. Leah quickly took a seat next to him.

   “I, uh… I’m part of a team.” Magnus explained. "The Institute for Planar Research and Exploration. We built that ship I sleep in, the Starblaster, and were planning to explore the different planar systems on our home plane.”

   “...Your home plane?” Leah asked.

   “Yeah. The day we left our plane, something went wrong.” Magnus sighed. “This entity, The Hunger, attacked our home. We escaped the material plane, but when we went back, it wasn’t our home. It was somewhere entirely different. Honestly I still don’t even know how it happened, but we somehow exited our planar system and got onto a different one.”

   Leah rubbed the back of her neck. “And then you landed here?”

   Magnus shook his head. “No. This is the 30th or so planar system we’ve landed on.”

   Leah sighed. “Alright. I don't think I fully understand this, but you’re from another world?”

   Magnus shrugged. “In a sense.”

   “Okay. But what does this have to do with this ‘Taako’ person?”

   “He was… one of the other members of the IPRE. There were seven of us.”

   “Where did he...” Leah trailed off. “Oh.”

   Magnus tried to hold back tears as best he could. “Everyone else died. On the second day after landing here, a huge hoard of wild animals attacked us in the night. I was supposed to be keeping watch, but I fell asleep.” Magnus turned his head down and tightly balled his fists. “And… and they’ll come back once we leave this plane, but… but they’re dead. They’re dead because I couldn’t save them. Because I slacked off. They’re dead because of me.” Tears rolled down his face and dripped onto the wooden floor.

   Leah sat in silence. Her mind was racing with possible ways to comfort her friend. “Magnus… You shouldn’t blame yourself for what happened. I’ve seen you these past days. You’re brave and courageous and helpful and goddamn strong, but you’re not perfect. No one is. You shouldn’t punish yourself for having faults. You shouldn’t expect to be able to do everything. How long were you up for before the attack?”

   “...T-ten hours.” Magnus mumbled.

   “See? Of course you weren’t at your A-game. You try to take on everything so that nobody else has to worry, but that’s not reasonable. You can only carry so much before collapsing.” Leah said.

   Magnus smiled and looked up at Leah. “...Thanks. You really know your stuff.”

   Leah smiled. “Yeah, well, I’ve learned the hard way you can’t blame yourself for these things.”  
Magnus cocked his eyebrows. “The hard way?”

   Leah sighed. “A few years ago, someone close to me died. My wife. She… she committed suicide.” Magnus threw his hand over his mouth.

   “She always waved it off when I asked her if anything was wrong, so eventually I stopped asking. And not too long after that, she killed herself. So I blamed myself, saying I didn’t push the issue hard enough. That might have been why I snapped at you earlier. I guess when I noticed something was bugging you, I got back into that headspace. So when you blew me off, I kind of just… panicked? I dunno.” Leah sighed.

   The two sat silently for what felt like hours.

   “Well…” Magnus said. “I think that’s enough soul-spilling for one day, don’t you?” He stood up from his chair. Leah chuckled. “I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
Leah smiled. “Yeah. Definitely.”

   Magnus smiled, gave Leah a powerful bear hug, and headed out the door towards the Starblaster.


End file.
